


Precaution

by honestgrins



Series: To Rely on the Kindness of Strangers [204]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: All Human, F/M, Meet the Family, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:08:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24100105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honestgrins/pseuds/honestgrins
Summary: Anonymous asked: If you’re taking request: “Klaroline AH + we’ve been dating for a while and now I want you to meet my daughter.” Preferably Caroline as the single mom and Klaus as her bf trying to gain her daughters affection who is at first skeptical of him but then grows to love him!!
Relationships: Caroline Forbes/Klaus Mikaelson
Series: To Rely on the Kindness of Strangers [204]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/378628
Comments: 7
Kudos: 89





	1. Chapter 1

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Caroline sounded nervous, nearly as nervous as felt. Klaus wanted to reassure her, but he wasn’t sure he was in a position to do so successfully. They were standing on her front porch, waiting to go inside - to make a certain introduction he’d never once considered before meeting _her_. “I know it was my idea and you’ve been surprisingly good with the kid thing, it’s just…this is a big step.”

Klaus smiled at that. “I’m hesitant, yes,” he admitted. “I haven’t spent much time with children, nor did I think they factored into my future. But you do, and I’m happy to take this step. With you.” It was an important caveat; for the time being, babysitting wasn’t exactly on his list of priorities. 

While he didn’t expect the sudden blush on her face, he certainly appreciated it. “I factor into your future?”

Then, his smile tipped into a frown. “I believe I said as much when you asked if I was committed to this relationship,” he answered. It had been of the utmost importance when she first broached meeting her daughter; under no circumstances would it even be a possibility if he weren’t serious in his intentions. “Do you doubt me?”

“No,” she denied immediately, her overwrought nerves clearly taking over. “Not at all. You’re…perfect, kind of unbelievably perfect. For me, not in general,” she clarified, grinning at his feigned offense. “Don’t go getting a big head over it.”

“Too late.” Klaus laced his fingers through hers to bring her wrist up to his lips. “I love you,” he reminded her, still getting used to the truth of it himself. It was true, though, or he never would have agreed to tonight. “And I’m honored you want me to meet Lizzie.”

With a deep breath, Caroline nodded and moved to unlock the front door. As soon as the lock turned, he could hear feet bounding toward them. “Mom, Daddy’s playing the game wrong!”

The door swung open without Caroline needing to push, and a dark-haired little girl with familiar eyes glared up at him. “Who’s he?”

“Remember when I said I was bringing a friend home for dinner?” she asked, pulling her up onto her hip with a bit of a struggle. At five, the child was already too grown to hold easily. “This is Klaus. Can you introduce yourself?”

She clung to her mother, and Klaus understood the fierce expression as an inherited trait. “I’m Lizzie,” she answered begrudgingly. Looking up at Caroline, though, all concern faded away. “But Daddy’s still playing the game wrong.”

“It’s Legos,” a new, deeper voice said in fond exasperation. Klaus turned to face Tyler, the ex-husband he’d already met to ensure all were comfortable with this meeting. Shaking hands with a perfunctory air, Tyler soon broke away to poke Lizzie’s cheek. “You can’t play Legos wrong, kiddo,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “I love you. I’ll see you this weekend, right?”

Nodding, she leapt from Caroline’s shoulder to her father’s arms for a big hug. “Love you,” she squeezed, but when she was lowered to the floor, she glared up at him too. “Jeremy knows how to play Legos right.”

“Then I’m sure he’ll be happy to show Daddy the right way,” Caroline said, interrupting what would surely be a silly argument. She glanced up to Tyler, smiling. “Thanks for this,” she said more quietly and nodding to Klaus. 

Tyler leaned in to kiss her cheek, and Klaus was surprised not to feel jealous at the easy intimacy between them. “You deserve to be happy, Care,” he murmured. He looked over to Klaus with an appraising eye, one he recognized from his own past introductions to any number of Rebekah’s boyfriends. “Make her happy,” he warned.

“Okay,” Caroline groaned, gently shoving him toward the door. “Tell Jeremy I said hello, and I will see you guys on Friday.”

As Tyler made his exit, Klaus felt eyes boring into his back. Sure enough, he found Lizzie staring at him with the same appraisal as her father. “Are you Mommy’s boyfriend? She’s never had one before.”

Klaus grinned as her blush returned full force. “I’ve had boyfriends,” she defended weakly, smoothing a hand over the girl’s hair. “But that’s a story for down the road, I think.” Clearly hoping for a change of topic, Caroline crouched down to eye level with Lizzie. “How about we get to know Klaus over dinner? Maybe over pizza…?”

“Pizza!” Lizzie yelled, bouncing up and down. She looked up to Klaus, and even the newcomer couldn’t override her sudden joy. “I like cheese. What’s your favorite?”

Sensing an easy victory for the moment, Klaus pretending to give it serious thought. “I think cheese pizza sounds wonderful.”

Happy to have an ally, Lizzie turner to her mother, victorious. “Cheese, please.”

Caroline just rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone. “Okay, okay, cheese it is. Want to help me make a salad to go with it?”

“Can I show Klaus my Legos? He’ll need to learn the right way to play.”

Sighing, she nodded, and Lizzie took off down a hallway. “The right way is just handing her whatever piece she asks for,” Caroline explained. “She doesn’t actually want you to build anything, just to be impressed with whatever she’s making.”

Klaus was instantly reminded of sharing toys with Finn as a child, who was similarly possessive over his things. Leaning in, he kissed the corner of her mouth, and he smirked when she turned for a better graze of his lips. “I can do that.”

He found he’d do just about anything for Caroline.


	2. Reassurance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: can you write a sequel to the drabble with lizzie and legos where klaus and caroline bring lizzie to meet the rest of the mikaelsons?

“It’s not too late to change your mind,” Klaus reminded her for the third time. He glanced back to where Lizzie was happily focused on the tablet, her comically large headphones giving them some privacy. “My family can be a bit…much.”

Caroline shrugged, taking his hand when his thumb kept tapping against the gearshift. “All the more reason to get everyone used to each other now,” she pointed out, _again_. “We’re getting married, Klaus. Do you really think waiting to introduce them at the wedding is the best plan?”

Letting loose a deep sigh, he squeezed her hand. “I don’t want them to say the wrong thing,” he admitted, his voice growing quiet as he pulled into the long driveway of the Mikaelson estate. He looked back to Lizzie once more, though she’d pressed her nose to the glass to see the gardens. “She’s only just started to like me.”

“She loves you,” Caroline assured him. “On days we don’t get to see you, she’s always asking where you are and what you’re doing and if you’ll teach her how to paint dinosaurs again. Yes, your family can be a bit…much,” she repeated teasingly, “but they’re nothing we can’t handle. I reserve the right to step on Kol’s toes, though, if she learns any new, colorful vocabulary.”

Klaus winced. “My money is on Bekah for that. But you’re right.”

“Ooh, I like the sound of that.”

He lifted her hand to his lips as he pulled to a stop in front of the big house. “You’re right,” he said again, meeting her gaze with an intent expression of his own, “that we can handle this. I’m lucky to have you with me.”

Her smile was a soft, shy thing, and they enjoyed the moment together until Lizzie groaned from the backseat. “Are you two going to kiss? Can’t we go in? I’m hungry!”

“Patience, baby,” Caroline said, though she sent a wink to Klaus before pushing herself out of the car to help her daughter escape the booster seat. “We’re going to meet Klaus’s family, remember? We want to make a good impression.”

By the time Klaus joined them, Lizzie was already holding Caroline’s hand and reaching for his as well. “Okay, but then lunch,” she declared.

Klaus laughed, sudden and loud, at the plaintive expectation that could have come straight from his little sister’s mouth when she was that age. “You’re going to fit in just fine, little one,” he realized, using their joined hands to poke her cheek. She grinned up at him with pride, and he could feel Caroline watching him. 

Even if the Mikaelsons behaved horribly, he was happy to call this little family his, too.


End file.
